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Oscar Pistorius parole process to start in South Africa

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BBC News
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South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, in prison for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, may soon meet her parents as part of the process leading to parole being considered, officials say.

South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, in prison for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, may soon meet her parents as part of the process leading to parole being considered, officials say.
South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, in prison for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, may soon meet her parents as part of the process leading to parole being considered, officials say.

He is eligible for possible release after having served half his sentence.

But he first has to take part in what is called “restorative justice”.

Pistorius shot Steenkamp dead in 2013 saying he mistook her for a burglar at his home in the capital, Pretoria.

The 34-year-old fired four times through a locked toilet door.

In 2014, at the conclusion of a trial that was followed around the world, he was given a five-year term for manslaughter. But Pistorius was found guilty of murder on appeal in 2015 and the sentence was later increased to 13 years and five months.

In a statement, South Africa’s department of correctional services said it was talking to the Steenkamp family about a possible meeting.

Outlining what needs to happen before parole is considered, the statement says that offenders must “acknowledge and take responsibility for their actions”.

As part of the restorative justice process there has to be “an opportunity for parties to reconcile or an apology”.

The Steenkamps’ lawyer, Tania Koen, told national broadcaster SABC that they “would like to participate in the victim-offender dialogue”.

“June [Steenkamp, Reeva’s mother] has always said that she has forgiven Oscar, however that doesn’t mean that he mustn’t pay for what he has done… Barry [Steenkamp, Reeva’s father] battles with that a bit, but that is something he will have to voice at the appropriate time,” Ms Koen added.

“The wound, even though so much time has passed, is still very raw.”

Being eligible for parole is not the same as being entitled to it and so it is not a forgone conclusion that he will be released, the lawyer said. The authorities will also have to consider a number of reports written by prison officials as well as other professionals.

There had also been some confusion over when the parole process could begin.

It was widely believed that it would not be until March 2023, but the Steenkamps were “very shocked and quite taken aback” that he was already eligible, Ms Koen said.

The BBC’s Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg says that if granted parole, Pistorius would serve the remainder of his sentence at home and need to report to prison officials regularly.

Prior to the murder, Pistorius had become well known as a Paralympic gold medallist. In 2012, he made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics running on prosthetic “blades”.

His legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old because he was born without fibula bones.

Rise and fall of Oscar Pistorius

  • August 2012: Competes in London Olympics and Paralympics, where he won a gold medal
  • February 2013: Shoots dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
  • March 2014: Trial begins
  • September 2014: Judge finds Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide
  • October 2014: Begins five-year sentence
  • October 2015: Transferred to house arrest
  • December 2015: Appeal court changes verdict to murder
  • July 2016: Sentenced to six years in jail for murder
  • November 2017: Sentence more than doubled to 13 years, five months

BBC News

Malawian leader Lazarus Chakwera tells off citizens over demands

By
BBC News
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Malawi president Lazarus Chakwera (Picture by Chims Talk Africa)
Malawi president Lazarus Chakwera (Picture by Chims Talk Africa)

Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has asked each citizen to take responsibility for the country’s development rather than always demanding it from the politicians.

Malawi president Lazarus Chakwera (Picture by Chims Talk Africa)
Malawi president Lazarus Chakwera (Picture by Chims Talk Africa)

He said he had hundreds of messages on his phone from people asking him “to run their families for them” just because he is president – adding that MPs had similar messages from their constituents.

“We must cure ourselves of the habit of asking more of our politicians than we demand from ourselves… Our country will never develop with that kind of spirit,” he said on Monday.

The Malawian president asked citizens to implement plans at household level that were in line with a national development plan, which he was launching.

He gave an example of the country’s plan to improve productivity and commercialisation of agriculture – which he said could not happen “without fundamental changes at the household level”.

He said farmers had to think of diversifying the crops they grow and how they do it in order to improve harvests.

He said it “won’t matter which politician you elect into office or how many times you tell a politician to change” if the people did not change. BBC News

Athol Williams: South Africa corruption whistle-blower flees for his life

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BBC News
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1
Athol WIlliams says the killing of another whistle-blower had left him in fear of his life
Athol WIlliams says the killing of another whistle-blower had left him in fear of his life

A South African whistleblower who testified at a state inquiry into massive corruption allegations has left the country fearing for his life.

Athol WIlliams says the killing of another whistle-blower had left him in fear of his life
Athol WIlliams says the killing of another whistle-blower had left him in fear of his life

“If I remained at home there was a good chance I’d be silenced, so I left,” Athol Williams said.

He named 39 people and companies involved in the scandal.

A public inquiry investigating corruption during the presidency of Jacob Zuma has heard from multiple witnesses.

The Zondo Commission – named after the judge chairing the inquiry – was set up in 2018 to investigate allegations of corruption and fraud in the public sector including in government institutions.

Zuma was convicted of contempt for refusing to appear before the commission. He was jailed but then freed on medical parole. He faced numerous charges of corruption, which he denies.

Mr Williams, a former ethics lecturer at the University of Cape Town, is among 278 witnesses who have testified at the public inquiry.

“Knowing that my government offers me no protection after I’ve acted in the public interest is a disturbing reality. I implicated 39 parties in my testimony so threats could come from many places,” he said in a statement published on Sunday.

He described hugging his family members in tears before boarding a flight out the country.

Mr Williams added that the killing in August of another whistle-bower, Babita Deokaran, who had exposed alleged corruption in a different scandal, convinced him that his protection was not guaranteed.

Ms Deokaran, a senior finance official in the health department of Gauteng province, was shot several times outside her home in Johannesburg.

It is suspected that she was targeted because she was a witness in an ongoing investigation into fraudulent contracts worth 332m rand ($23m; £17m) awarded by her department to buy personal protective equipment to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

Six people have been charged with her murder.

At the time President Cyril Ramaphosa described her as “a hero and a patriot” and said her killing was “a stark reminder of the high stakes involved in our collective quest to remove this cancer from our society”.

Mr Williams, who reportedly left South Africa on 1 November, accused the authorities of “choosing not to” protect whistle-blowers.

He said there was a narrative that “only a few bad apples” were involved in corruption but in fact “the corrupted web stretches across our society and needs bold action” to tackle it.

“The reality is that there are many important and influential people who we revere in society, who we offer awards to, who sit on boards and committees and lead grand initiatives and organisations, who are in fact enabling this capture and benefitting from it.

He added that he would continue advocating for justice “no matter how far from home I am”. He did not say which country he had gone to.

Rights group Amnesty criticised South African authorities for not protecting whistle-blowers.

South Africa has a law to protect whistle-blowers but it has been criticised for not being robust enough to guarantee the safety of people who expose corruption in high-profile cases. BBC News

Niger classroom fire kills at least 25 schoolchildren

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BBC News
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0

At least 25 children aged five to six have died after their straw-hut classrooms caught fire in southern Niger, officials say.

Many schools in Niger use straw-hut classrooms (file photo)
Many schools in Niger use straw-hut classrooms (file photo)

Several others were injured during the blaze, which broke out on Monday morning as children took part in school lessons in the country’s Maradi region.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

In Niger, overflow classrooms are often built using wood and straw when the main brick structures are unable to accommodate all schoolchildren.

Monday’s blaze destroyed three such classrooms, the mayor of Maradi city, Chaibou Aboubacar, told local media.

One eyewitness told the BBC they saw several bodies being carried from the scene and a number of children with injuries being placed in vehicles to be taken to hospital.

Some of those injured were said to be in a critical condition.

All classes at the school have been suspended.

While it is not uncommon for fires to occur in school outbuildings in Niger it is rare for one to result in so many deaths.

However, earlier this year some 20 children died in a similar fire in Niger’s capital, Niamey, after becoming trapped behind the school gates.

In total 28 straw classrooms were destroyed in that incident, which prompted a public outcry.

Most of those who did not manage to escape were attending the school’s nursery. BBC News

Defiant fired MP Killer Zivhu insists on Mnangagwa-Chamisa dialogue

By
Nyashadzashe Ndoro
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Former Chivi South MP Killer Zivhu was fired from Zanu PF for urging dialogue between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa

After being fired by Zanu PF for pushing for dialogue between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa last year, Killer Zivhu still insists talks between the two leaders will help Zimbabwe come out of its dire economic crisis.

Former Chivi South MP Killer Zivhu was fired from Zanu PF for urging dialogue between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa
Former Chivi South MP Killer Zivhu was fired from Zanu PF for urging dialogue between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa

The former Chivi South MP was fired from Zanu PF on charges of misconduct after he wrote on his Twitter handle that dialogue between the first lady, Auxillia Mnangagwa, and MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa’s wife Sithokozile was the only solution to Zimbabwe’s challenges.

Last week, Zivhu told Mnangagwa that he was spending a lot of money trying to re-engage with Western countries while failing to organise dialogue with Chamisa.

“Re-engagement with the West is important, but not better than a dialogue with Chamisa. Wasting resources trying to re-engage with the West hazvibatsiri. Kutaura na Chamisa hakudi mari kana Ndege just a phone call vanhu votosangana pa Garwe pachangovhurwa apo,” he said.

His sentiments come two days after Mnangagwa’s arrival from Glasgow, Scotland where he was attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).

Mnangagwa said the conference provided an opportunity for his government to re-engage with the United Kingdom and United States since he got the chance to meet the respective leaders of those countries, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Joe Biden.

The two countries slapped Zimbabwe with targeted sanctions two decades ago in order to force the regime to respect human rights and end corruption and economic mismanagement.

The issues about dialogue arose in 2018 when Zimbabwe went through a disputed election and Mnangagwa’s win was only confirmed by a court stuffed with loyalist judges.

The MDC Alliance refused to recognise Mnangagwa’s victory and continued to call him illegitimate while calling for genuine dialogue. Nehanda Radio

REVEALED: Minutes of ‘illegal’ Zanu PF meeting that endorsed 2017 coup

By
Nyashadzashe Ndoro
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By Nyashadzashe Ndoro | Nehanda Politics |

Obert Mpofu was indeed only a Zanu PF secretary for finance when he ‘illegally’ presided over a meeting that forced late former President Robert Mugabe to resign, installing current President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Obert Mpofu
Obert Mpofu

According to the minutes of a Zanu PF Central Committee meeting held at the Party Headquarters in Harare on the 19th November 2017, Mpofu who is cited as party’s secretary for finance presided over a meeting that declared Mugabe and then Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko incapable of being State leaders.

The ruling party also endorsed the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) for executing a military coup that overthrew Mugabe and put Mnangagwa and President.

“The Zanu PF Central Committee met in the Special Section at the Party Headquarters in Harare on the 19th November 2017 in terms of Article 7 Section 37 (7) of the Party’s Constitution.

“The meeting having been duly constituted, noted the incapacitation of the top leadership of the party to execute their duties as enjoined by the Party’s Constitution in particular, as enshrined under Article 7 Section 38 thereof, consequent upon which, Dr. Obert Mpofu was unanimously elected to preside over the proceedings considering he was the most senior member of the party present,” read part of the minutes.

“After considering the recommendations from various Provinces and deliberating intensively, the meeting passed the following resolutions:

“That the Central Committee on behalf of Zanu PF expressed profound gratitude to the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) for their intervention efforts in the internal affairs of the Party as a governing Party with view of bringing normalcy both within the Party and Government.”

Zanu PF youth Sybeth Musengezi

Last month, a Zanu PF youth member Sybeth Musengezi filed a High Court application seeking an order declaring as illegal the November 19, 2017 Zanu PF central committee meeting and the subsequent ascendancy to power by Mnangagwa.

Musengezi argues that Mnangagwa’s rise to power after the “kangaroo” special committee meeting violated the Zanu PF constitution, because the meeting was illegally presided over by Mpofu who was then only the party’s secretary for finance.

Musengezi is also seeking the capacitation of Mphoko to convene a special Extraordinary Congress of Zanu PF that will decide the lawful position of Mnangagwa and other top party members.

He argues that, at the time of his removal, “Mugabe was not incapacitated to preside over a lawfully convened session of the Central Committee in terms of Article 7 Section 38 of the party’s Constitution but he was at all material times seized with the internal affairs of the party in his engagement with the commanders of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces as evidenced by the subject of his televised speech on the evening of the 19th of November 2017 at the end of which he bid the whole country a good night with the famed Asante Sana remark.”

The matter is yet to be heard but Mnangagwa has since filed an opposing affidavit citing that he cannot be sued because he is protected by the Presidential Immunity to Criminal and Civil Suits provision in the Constitution. Nehanda Radio

Socialite ‘Njuzu’ opens up on being sexually abused as a young girl

By
Keith Mlauzi
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Monalisa Zulu, also known as Njuzu
Monalisa Zulu, also known as Njuzu

By Keith Mlauzi | Nehanda Showbiz |

Lately a number of local celebrities have opened up about their troubled upbringing.

Monalisa Zulu, also known as Njuzu
Monalisa Zulu, also known as Njuzu

Dancehall chanter Poptain revealed last month that he was sexually abused by an older women at a tender age. This came after his girlfriend musician Anita Jaxson also opened up about being abused by her father.

Socialite Monalisa ‘Njuzu’ Zulu is the latest celebrity to open up about being sexually abused as a young girl.

The socialite who rose to fame through controversy took to Instagram to share her emotional story with thousands of followers.

She revealed that life was difficult for her as an orphan and no one was in her corner.

In a video, Njuzu cried uncontrollably saying she regretted everything she has done but it was all due to prevailing circumstances.

“I don’t wanna lie to you guys I regret everything I’ve done, sometimes you need your sisters, your cousins to be there for you but no one is there to support you. I’m trying so hard.

“I moved out of home at 22 my Aunt was sad because my Dad had ordered her to take care of me in his will but I told her that I had to move because she didn’t believe that her husband was abusing me.

“No one in the family believed what I went through as I was the only one with parents,” she said.

She also summarized her story in a post which she wrote: “Being an orphan is not easy. No one in my family believed what I went through, they all supported the abuser instead of me (sad emoji).

She added that every night she cries herself to sleep.

“If you not in this kind of situation you’ll never understand how this affects my daily living. I cry myself to bed, I breakdown, I even lose weight because of this sh*t its painful,” she added.

Njuzu rose to fame after getting involved in a love triangle with socialite Trevor ‘Hell Commander’ Mbizvo and Ginimbi’s former manager Ms Shally.

In that same period she had her bedroom videos leaked on social media and was later accused of stealing a watch worth over R 1 million from her ex boyfriend South African based Congolese blesser Serge Caponge. Nehanda Radio

Ngwarati mine spurs Zimplats production

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Nehanda Radio
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0
Zimplats spent $38 million on expansion projects in the year to June 30, 2015 compared to $73 million in the previous year
Zimplats Mine

By Nelson Gahadza

Platinum giant Zimplats Holdings says mined tonnage grew by one percent to 1,8 million tonnes during the quarter to 31 September 2021, compared to the prior quarter spurred by recommencing of operations at Ngwarati Mine.

Zimplats spent $38 million on expansion projects in the year to June 30, 2015 compared to $73 million in the previous year
Zimplats Mine

The company in February this year reported a fatal injury when a high wall collapsed at its Ngwarati Mine boxcut, which resulted in loss of production time.

“Volumes were three percent lower than those achieved in the quarter ended 30 September 2020 and this was due to lower productivity as a result of the required ramp up of teams recommencing production at Ngwarati Mine from 1 July 2021 following the successful rehabilitation of the box-cut highwall,” the group said in a statement.

During the quarter under review, six elements (6E) production fell 7 percent compared to the previous quarter due to factory maintenance.

The 6E production stood at 143 061 ounces 153 643 ounces. However, output rose by one percent from the 142 023 recorded in the same comparative period last year.

“The concentrator at the Selous Metallurgical Complex was shut for a planned mill reline during the quarter under review,” Zimplats said.

The mining company said 6E head grade of 3,45 g/t improved one percent from the prior quarter reflecting the benefit of the resumption of production from Ngwarati Mine.

Conversely, ore milled went down by five percent to 1,67 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2022 from 1,76 million tonnes in the previous quarter. “It was stable relative to first quarter of 2021,” the company said.

Zimplats noted that metal in final product volumes in the September 2020 quarter were impacted by the deferral of concentrates smelted to the December 2020 quarter and therefore, volumes for the quarter under review were 1 percent higher.

The group said total operating cash costs surged one percent to US$100 million from US$99,5 million in the previous quarter and it was also five percent higher than the same period last year, attributed to increased Covid-19 spend and insurance costs.

“A total of US$3 million was transferred from operating costs to closing stocks during the quarter, as the group accumulated ore in anticipation of the commissioning of the third concentrator under construction at Ngezi.

“The combination of lower production volumes and higher operating costs resulted in a four percent quarter-on-quarter and a seven percent year-on-year increase in operating cash costs of US$680 per 6E ounce.”

The group spent a total of US$0,4 million on exploration projects, with a further US$1,1 million committed as at 30 September 2021.

“Exploration activities included mineral resource evaluation, comprising approximately 8 621 metres of surface diamond drilling over existing projects on the two mining leases. Exploration activities increased geological and geotechnical confidence in production schedules,” stated Zimplats.

Zimplats recently said it would invest US$1,4 billion on capital expansion projects that are currently at different stages of implementation until the year 2028.

The envisaged investment of US$1,4 billion by Zimplats is expected to see the setting up of integrated projects, including the development of new mines, expansion of the smelter, construction of an additional concentrator, base metal refinery, sulphuric acid plant and the setting up of a 110 MW solar power plant. The Herald

ECOWAS hardens stance on Mali, Guinea

By
Nehanda Radio
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2

The West African regional grouping ECOWAS on Sunday hardened its stance against military-ruled Mali and Guinea, imposing new individual sanctions and calling on both countries to honour timetables for a return to democracy.

Colonel Assimi Goita initially pledged a transition of no more than 18 months, but went on to mount a new coup in May
Colonel Assimi Goita initially pledged a transition of no more than 18 months, but went on to mount a new coup in May

The Economic Community of West African States “has decided to sanction all those implicated in the delay” in organising elections set for February 27 in Mali, ECOWAS Commission President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou told AFP after a summit of the 15-nation group in the Ghanaian capital Accra.

He said Mali had “officially written” to Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, who holds the rotating presidency of ECOWAS, to inform him that the Sahel country could not hold elections as planned.

“All the transition authorities are concerned by the sanctions which will take immediate effect,” Brou said, adding the travel bans and assets freezes targeted family members as well.

In a final declaration following Sunday’s summit, ECOWAS said it “highly deplores the lack of progress” towards staging elections in Mali.

The situation has raised concerns internationally, prompting a UN Security Council delegation to Mali late last month.

Council members “reiterated their call for the Malian transitional authorities to achieve… the handover of power to democratically elected civilian authorities within the agreed timeline,” the officials said in a statement.

Mali’s junta expelled the ECOWAS special envoy Hamidou Boly from the country on October 26, declaring him “persona non grata”.

On Sunday, ECOWAS condemned the expulsion.

As for Guinea, where soldiers seized power on September 5, ECOWAS decided to uphold the country’s suspension from the bloc as well as sanctions against individual junta members and their families.

It also reiterated its demand for the “unconditional release” of president Alpha Conde, 83, who has been under house arrest since his ouster.

In the final declaration, it praised the adoption of a “transition charter”, the appointment of a civilian prime minister and the formation of a transitional government — echoing Brou following an ECOWAS delegation to the country in October.

But it called on the authorities to “urgently submit a detailed timetable… towards the holding of elections” in the country of 13 million people.

– Mali faces jihadist insurgency –

Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who overthrew Conde after months of discontent against his government, had promised to restore civilian rule after a transition period of unspecified length.

The ECOWAS leaders named Mohamed Ibn Chambas as its special envoy to Guinea, which had spent decades under authoritarian or dictatorial regimes before Conde’s election in 2010.

At a September summit, ECOWAS demanded that Guinea hold elections within six months.

The regional leaders also demanded that the Mali junta adhere “strictly” to that country’s transition timetable.

ECOWAS rescinded economic sanctions against Mali and its suspension from the organisation when the junta headed by Colonel Assimi Goita pledged a transition of no more than 18 months.

But Goita went on to mount a new coup in May, deposing transitional president Bah Ndaw and his prime minister, Moctar Ouane.

ECOWAS suspended Mali once again, but did not apply new sanctions.

Swathes of Mali, a vast nation of 19 million people, lie outside of government control because of a jihadist insurgency that emerged in the north in 2012, before spreading to the centre of the country as well as neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Brou noted that the deployment of contractors from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner in Mali was “one of the concerns of the heads of state”.

ECOWAS will hold its next summit in December when it will consider more sanctions “if the situation persists”, Sunday´s declaration stated. AFP

Bulawayo teen (19) suffocates inside fuel tanker… cousin hospitalised

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Nehanda Radio
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4
A 19-YEAR-OLD from Pumula South in Bulawayo suffocated while his cousin was hospitalised after they went into a fuel tank to clean it in Kelvin North industrial site on Saturday. Onesisa Ncube (pictured) died on the spot while Mr Alpha Mathe (21) was rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital
A 19-YEAR-OLD from Pumula South in Bulawayo suffocated while his cousin was hospitalised after they went into a fuel tank to clean it in Kelvin North industrial site on Saturday. Onesisa Ncube (pictured) died on the spot while Mr Alpha Mathe (21) was rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital

By Angela Sibanda

A 19-year-old from Pumula South in Bulawayo suffocated while his cousin was hospitalised after they went into a fuel tank to clean it in Kelvin North industrial site on Saturday.

A 19-YEAR-OLD from Pumula South in Bulawayo suffocated while his cousin was hospitalised after they went into a fuel tank to clean it in Kelvin North industrial site on Saturday. Onesisa Ncube (pictured) died on the spot while Mr Alpha Mathe (21) was rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital
A 19-YEAR-OLD from Pumula South in Bulawayo suffocated while his cousin was hospitalised after they went into a fuel tank to clean it in Kelvin North industrial site on Saturday. Onesisa Ncube (pictured) died on the spot while Mr Alpha Mathe (21) was rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital

Onesisa Ncube died on the spot while Mr Alpha Mathe (21) was rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital where he was treated and discharged. Mr Mathe lost consciousness only to recover at the hospital.

Their uncle, Mr Feleki Mathema, a mechanic by profession, told Chronicle that he secured a part time job for the two to clean trucks.

Mr Mathema said as a family of Seventh Day Adventists, they were not working during the day on Saturday and the boys moved on site after 6PM.

He said he had told them not to go inside the fuel tank while cleaning the petrol tankers, but they both did not heed his advice.

Mr Mathema said he received a call at about 8PM to rush to the industrial site as there was an emergency.

“I sped to the scene and upon arriving I found fire brigade vehicles on site. Already my gut was telling me something was wrong. They told me that one of the boys had been rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital. I guess it was a way to get me settled before they then informed me that the other one who is 19 years of age had suffocated inside a fuel tank,” he said.

Mr Mathema said before they went to work, he had emphasised to them not to enter the tank.

He said the petrol tanker driver had initially called him asking if he was going to come and pick the boys up.

“I told him that the contract we had is that when the boys were on the job, the driver is the one who should bring them home. So, he said he asked the boys to come the following day to finish up the job. But they insisted that they wanted just 30 minutes to do the job. Within 45 minutes of receiving the call, my boy was gone,” he said.

Mourners at a funeral wake for the late Onesisa Ncube who suffocated while cleaning a fuel tanker

Mr Mathema said when Mr Mathe regained consciousness at the hospital he kept asking for Onesisa.

He said yesterday morning they quizzed him on what had really transpired.

“He told us that he was the first one to enter the petrol tanker. But he felt he was suffocating and exited. But Onesisa then laughed at him as weak, and he entered the tank as well and within a few minutes he was suffocating,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the older one was still to recover from the petrol that he had inhaled, he called for help but the person who came refused to go inside the tank. He (Mr Mathe) entered the tank but he was already too weak to lift the boy out. He then requested to be pulled out of the tank. And that is how he survived. He was rushed to the hospital unconscious and had to be put on oxygen on his way.”

Mr Mathema, who seemed to blame himself for the tragic loss of his nephew, kept on reiterating that he had emphasised to them never to go into the tank.

He said he even asked them to do the work yesterday but they insisted on going on Saturday.

“For instance, the person who used to go with Onesisa to clean the trucks on the day, declined to go saying they should postpone it to the following day but he insisted on going on the same day,” he said.

Acting Bulawayo Chief Fire Officer Mr Linos Phiri said his team attended the scene after receiving calls at about 8:30PM.

He said when his team arrived Onesisa had already died.

“His body was retrived by one of the firefighters who entered the tank with a full breathing apparatus and removed the body assisted by other crew members. The body was then handed to the police. His friend who was assisting him had already been taken to the hospital,” said Mr Phiri.

He said cleaning of petrol tankers should be done by experienced individuals to avert similar disasters. The Chronicle

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